What's on your reading list?

[Medievalmaniac]

Sooooo....I actually haven't been reading as much as I'd like, my school is at the end of a term (year round) so I've been grading final papers and wrapping things up, and of course the rugrats keep me busy....BUT, I have a long ist of things I'm DYING to get around to...t.hey sit on my bedstand mocking me every night, but I keep falling asleep, ack.

My list:

currently reading: (rereading for the thousandth time! lol) Dragonriders of Pern: The White Dragon

On the list of to-reads:

Susan Crane, Insular Romance

Tolkien's translation of sections of the Prose Edda

Rymes of Robyn Hode

Celtic Miscellany

Historia Regum Brittaniae IV: Dissemination and Reception

Gothic Art

Yes, I'm a big ol' medieval nerd....! ;op

[M.J.P.]

I love this thread! Right now, I'm reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. Yes, the Victorianist in me runs deep!

I think that after that (which I'm probably not going to finish for a month or two), I'm going to try to read some philosophy/literary theory. I was hoping to read up on some of the professors at Rutgers before I visit next month. But all of the books are checked out at my university library. Argh!

I'd also like to finish 2666 by Robert Bolaño and Moby Dick by Melville, both of which I am currently halfway through and yet to finish.

Other than that, books that are on my horizon include:

• The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
• The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen (such a big, awkward book to carry around...makes commuting difficult)
• Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
• Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter

See! I have interests outside of Victorian literature .

[crutch]

Books on my list include:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

As I lay Dying by Faulkner

Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler

There are a lot more, but those are on my immediate horizon, since I've been meaning to get to them for some time. I'm also in the middle of Dune, but I just can't seem to develop the desire to keep going through it.

[Medievalmaniac]

I love this thread! Right now, I'm reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. Yes, the Victorianist in me runs deep!

I think that after that (which I'm probably not going to finish for a month or two), I'm going to try to read some philosophy/literary theory. I was hoping to read up on some of the professors at Rutgers before I visit next month. But all of the books are checked out at my university library. Argh!

I'd also like to finish 2666 by Robert Bolaño and Moby Dick by Melville, both of which I am currently halfway through and yet to finish.

Other than that, books that are on my horizon include:

• The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass
• The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen (such a big, awkward book to carry around...makes commuting difficult)
• Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
• Ship of Fools by Katherine Anne Porter

See! I have interests outside of Victorian literature .

I love Middlemarch...but it took me a month to read it! That's a looooong novel! lol

I also loved Ship of Fools, it was a fun read.

I still haven't read the whale book I mean, 18th century shipping manual I mean, Moby Dick cover to cover. Just can't get through it, no matter how great a classic it is, alas.

Never read Rushdie, although I probably should....and don't even know who Reif Larson is!

I need to expand my horizons, I think...! lol

[Medievalmaniac]

Books on my list include:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

As I lay Dying by Faulkner

Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler

There are a lot more, but those are on my immediate horizon, since I've been meaning to get to them for some time. I'm also in the middle of Dune, but I just can't seem to develop the desire to keep going through it.

It's rare I LOVE American fiction, but I dearly love Faulkner. Have you read The Sound and the Fury? It's incredible. It really pushes the boundaries of what you can do with stream of consciousness. As I Lay Dying is a beautiful book.

[M.J.P.]

Books on my list include:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

As I lay Dying by Faulkner

Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler

There are a lot more, but those are on my immediate horizon, since I've been meaning to get to them for some time. I'm also in the middle of Dune, but I just can't seem to develop the desire to keep going through it.

Ooo! I read Crime and Punishment during my "studying" for the GRE Lit last summer. It is such a good book! I actually read about half of it to my nephew when he was 8 months old. It was probably the only thing that got him to calm down and not fuss.

Also, Lolita is definitely being added to my to read list.

[crutch]

Ooo! I read Crime and Punishment during my "studying" for the GRE Lit last summer. It is such a good book! I actually read about half of it to my nephew when he was 8 months old. It was probably the only thing that got him to calm down and not fuss.

Also, Lolita is definitely being added to my to read list.

Yeah, I've been meaning to read some Crime and Punishment for quite some time. I think I'm going to go through Lolita first, though.

[crutch]

It's rare I LOVE American fiction, but I dearly love Faulkner. Have you read The Sound and the Fury? It's incredible. It really pushes the boundaries of what you can do with stream of consciousness. As I Lay Dying is a beautiful book.

I have indeed read The Sound and the Fury. While it's not one of my all-time favorite books, I did enjoy it thoroughly. My favorite section was Quentin's (the neurotic one, not the rebellious one) and I found Benjy's enjoyable as well. I sort of felt it all dropped off in Jason's section, however, but that's probably just me!

On a side note, I read Albert Camus' The Stranger a few days ago and really, really enjoyed it.

[Pamphilia]

Other than that, books that are on my horizon include:

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie[*]

Right on. I'm working on Midnight's Children now (and have been for a while; I keep getting interrupted with other things). I'm on sort of a magic realism kick now--before the Rushdie was Allende (with her own set of issues...lordy), and next up is Marquez.

P.S. Consider me an evangelist in the Church of Faulkner.

Edited February 26, 2010 by Pamphilia

[crutch]

Right on. I'm working on Midnight's Children now (and have been for a while; I keep getting interrupted with other things). I'm on sort of a magic realism kick now--before the Rushdie was Allende (with her own set of issues...), and next up is Marquez.

Midnight's Children is great, but I found myself enjoying The Satanic Verses quite a bit more. If you have a chance, check it out.

[Nighthob]

Rushdie, Allende, Faulkner... is no one other than me reading fluff right now?

I'm finishing up Sepulchre by Kate Mosse (note the "e"; not the model) -- modern gothic horror.

Next up is Skylight Confessions by Alice Hoffman, which I got on uber-sale in hardback.

I have never read The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, and everyone recommends it me to, so that's on the list

For non-fiction, I'm reading The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler. It's fascinating to me, but I'm an adoptee, so I'm biased.

[Medievalmaniac]

P.S. Consider me an evangelist in the Church of Faulkner.

lmao!! :lol: Love it!

[Str2T]

Since I've been trying to finish up my thesis (collection of essays) and prep for my comprehensive exam, I haven't had a lot of time to read. I'm looking forward to the summer!:

Uncommon Carriers by McPhee

Chimera by Barth

The Complete Book of Kong by Trowbridge

Play it as it Lays by Didion

The Language Instinct by Pinker

Field Guide to Getting Lost by Solnit

(all sitting on my shelf ready to go)

And anything SF that strikes my fancy...

[minnares]

I just finished reading Night Train to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier, which was wonderful. It reminded me of Steppenwolf or Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind. German linguistics (Classics, no less) has a random meeting with a woman in a red coat on a bridge. She's Portugese, and only briefly enters his day and then leaves again. They have no substantial interaction, yet he is compelled all of a sudden to travel by train to Lisbon. Once there, he becomes involved, by way of a mysterious book in a bookstore, in a decades old story of revolution, passion, insanity, and brilliance. There was so much in this book to love.

And today, I just started W. Somerset Maugham's Of Human Bondage. Seemed an appropriate title for my life at the moment . I love Maugham's books, esp. The Painted Veil. So far OHB promises more of the same wonderous writing. Mmmm Maugham.

As for my other "to reads," I'm on GoodReads and have a list of more than 200 to read, so... If you want to join my GoodReads, you can PM me. LOL.

~ m

[hopefulJ2010]

Books on my list include:

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky

As I lay Dying by Faulkner

Lilith's Brood by Octavia Butler

There are a lot more, but those are on my immediate horizon, since I've been meaning to get to them for some time. I'm also in the middle of Dune, but I just can't seem to develop the desire to keep going through it.

Lolita is AWESOME! I'm currently reading "Sarajevo Blues" - Semezdin Mehmedinovic for class... couldn't get through Herta Muller's "The Land of Green Plums" :X but will attempt to finish it for class.

On my personal list, I started Jonathan Safran Foer's "Everything Is Illuminated" and I'm eyeing Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" on my desk!

[durkin65]

I've completed The Black Atlantic by Paul Gilroy this morning. I'm also reading The Plague by Camus.

I'm working on reading one theoretical text per week. I've a list of texts which include Archaeology of Knowledge by Foucault, Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, Against the Romance of Community by Miranda Joseph, and In The Break: The Aesthetics of the Black Radical Tradition by Fred Moten.

In terms of fiction, I have a ton of potential books to read - I purchase books in bundles - like Distant Star and By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolano, Waiting by Goretti Kyomuhendo, and An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter by Cesar Aira.

I love having lists of books to read. The difficult part is letting down all of the other books that you've put in second place.

[callmelilyb]

I recently finished A Portrait of the Artist as A Young Man -- loved it.

I am currently about 2/3 through Invisible Man -- loving it.

I think I'll head for some nonfiction next....any suggestions?

Oh Faulkner....you make me never want to write!

But Oh Lolita! You make me hate myself!

[minnares]

I think I'll head for some nonfiction next....any suggestions?

No Ordinary Time. It's a book about FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt. Fantastic book. So interesting, readable, and loaded with information. I just read it last month.

~ m

[lady_coffee]

Rushdie, Allende, Faulkner... is no one other than me reading fluff right now?

For non-fiction, I'm reading The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler. It's fascinating to me, but I'm an adoptee, so I'm biased.

That is a wonderful book - heart-wrenching, informative, terrifying, and, in the end, hopeful. I hope you enjoy it!

I'm currently reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I've never read Atwood before, and it's always a treat when the book lives up to the hype.

I don't know if anyone here reads Jhumpa Lahiri, but I'd highly recommend her most recent collection of short stories, Unaccustomed Earth. Really beautiful and intriguing work.

Edited February 26, 2010 by lady_coffee

[Kam]

currently reading for pleasure: the beautiful miscellaneous by dominic smith

next: (probably) Going Out by scarlett thomas

currently reading for class: machiavelli's Clizia and Manetti's The Fat Woodcarver

next: Native Speaker by Chang-Rae Lee

[divinemg]

This was such a good idea! I definitely have Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury on my to-read list.

As for myself, I just finished Woolf's The Waves (incredible).

I'm still trying to find time to finish Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and need to re-read Huxley's Brave New World (I just got a job as a homeschool English instructor and decided to teach this one)!

[Medievalmaniac]

This was such a good idea! I definitely have Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury on my to-read list.

As for myself, I just finished Woolf's The Waves (incredible).

I'm still trying to find time to finish Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and need to re-read Huxley's Brave New World (I just got a job as a homeschool English instructor and decided to teach this one)!

Virginia Woolf is ALWAYS a good idea! I love her. If the medievalists hadn't gotten to me first, I'd have been a Bloomsburian.

[minnares]

I'm currently reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. I've never read Atwood before, and it's always a treat when the book lives up to the hype.

ladycoffee, The Handmaid's Tale is one of my Top 10 books of all time. I read it almost every year. It's really Atwood's best work, IMHO.

~ m

[HelloKaty37]

Rushdie, Allende, Faulkner... is no one other than me reading fluff right now?

My fluff is probably even fluffier lol. I'm currently working on Julie & Julia and after that will continue working my way through all the recommended authors on Sophie Kinsella's Amazon page (probably Jennifer Weiner next). I read chick lit to keep myself sane among all the dense material I read for class.

As for (slightly) more serious works, I would like to re-read American Gods and Good Omens and maybe some more Irish legends.

[poco_puffs]

Read Moby Dick during apps and loved the flipping hell out of it. Currently working through Middlemarch and my short attention span is causing me problems--I find myself reading a chapter twice, because I haven't hit my stride yet. Also working on a random novel I picked up by Frank Herbert of Dune fame; it's called The White Plague and it's crazazy.

I *was* reading Madame Bovary, but I've been so mopey and anxious lately that I had to put it down or risk making myself worse.

Ditto The Handmaid's Tale being a favorite.

Now that I have my first (and possibly only) acceptance, I need to get back on the academic reading horse and start studying again.